Merit E. Janow

​​Merit E. Janow is an internationally recognized expert in international trade and investment. She has extensive experience in business, academia and government, and has had life long involved with Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.

University Leadership: Janow became Dean of the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in July 2013, a position she concluded in December 2021. She remains on the Columbia faculty.  As Dean of SIPA, she has strengthened the school by launching new programs in the areas of technology & public policy with a focus on cyber security, the digital economy and advanced data analytics and public policy; central banking and financial policy; and key regions of the world, notably China, Brazil, Japan and India. She expanded the faculty, created new research centers; created new programs around entrepreneurship and sustainable investing, and completed two ambitious capital campaigns. For the past 27 years, she has been a professor at both SIPA and Columbia Law School. Earlier she ran the SIPA Program on International Finance and Economic Policy. She teaches graduate courses at SIPA and Columbia Law School  Janow has written three books and numerous articles and frequently speaks before business, policy, and academic audiences around the world.

Government and Policy Experience: Janow has had three periods of senior government service. In December 2003, while at Columbia University, she was elected as one of the seven Members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body. From 1997-2000, Janow served as the Executive Director of the first international antitrust advisory committee to the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust of the US Justice Department.  From 1989 to 1993, Janow served as Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China in the Executive Office of the President. In that capacity she was responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing U.S. trade policies and leading sectoral trade negotiations with Japan and China. She negotiated more than a dozen trade agreements.

Corporate and Board Experience: For over 20 years, Janow has had extensive and ongoing corporate and nonprofit board and governance committee experience. She currently serves on the Board of Mastercard, the American Funds/Capital group, and Aptiv.  Janow also serves on the Board of non-profit organizations such as Japan Society (where she is Chairman); the National Committee on US China Relations (Trustee); Peterson Institute of International Economics (Director) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.   Early in her career, Janow was a corporate lawyer specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York.

Personal Information & Education: Janow grew up in Tokyo and speaks Japanese. She has a JD from Columbia Law School (Stone Scholar) and a BA in Asian Studies with honors from the University of Michigan.